


Meeting Mom

by Foxtrotbeastbot



Series: Cop and Baker [5]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Dinner, F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 07:26:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9062359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxtrotbeastbot/pseuds/Foxtrotbeastbot
Summary: Bogo gets invited to lunch with his girlfriend's family. Will it go better than tea with his?





	

"Hey Chief, what would you say to meeting my family this weekend?"

Bogo paused in the middle of tossing a few kernels of popcorn into his mouth and looked at his girlfriend confusedly. The question had come in the middle of their Friday night date while they watched an old cartoon they both enjoyed. Danny, Elise and Ellie were laying on the floor, munching their own bowl of popcorn while Will slept in his playpen.

"A bit out of the blue there love." he replied. "What brings this on?"

"Well, I figured since I met your parents, maybe you'd like to meet my side of the family."

"And at least this time, nobody's going to get insulted or tossed around like a flour sack." Danny mumbled through a mouthful of popcorn. Felicity shot her son a stern look.

"Don't talk with your mouth full Danny." she said. "And have some respect for Bogo's parents. They're good mammals....even if Mr. Bogo is a little ignorant."

"Sorry momma." Danny turned back to the TV while Felicity looked to Bogo.

"So what do you think Chief?"

Bogo put a hoof to his chin, thinking for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, I've got Saturday off from the station. I'll meet you here and we can all drive to your mother's together."

"Yay, we get to go see Nana!" Ellie squealed. Felicity smiled and hugged Bogo's arm gratefully.

"Thank you hon. Trust me, you're going to like my Momma. And my brothers and sisters too!" she smiled. Bogo pulled her into his lap, giving her a warm nuzzle.

"No problem babe."

~*~

The next morning, the Brush family and Bogo all piled into Felicity's van and headed off towards the Kiboko house.

"Roscoe texted me last night after you headed home." Felicity explained. "Momma's excited to meet you. Apparently she's been up since 4 am cooking. A bit late, but she's no spring hippo anymore. She needs her rest."

"She's been what?" Asked Bogo. The children chuckled in the back seat, Elise leaning forward to clarify.

"It's a Hippo thing. See, it's a tradition among hippos to welcome guests with a feast. And Grandmama loves to cook, so she tends to take the idea of feasting seriously."

"Yeah, last time she did this was when we adopted Will." Danny agreed. "She made enough to feed all of us full to bursting, plus leftovers to take home."

Felicity smiled as they headed into a tunnel towards the Rainforest District. It was only a few more minutes before they pulled up in front of a large old fashioned house, a swimming pool out front and two hippo bulls wrestling on the lawn. One of them looked up at the van's approach, grinning wildly and wiggling his ears.

"Feli!" he shouted, pushing the other away and scrambling to his feet. He was a little on the smaller side for a hippo, especially compared to the his wrestling partner, a massive male with more muscle than fat. Felicity waved, hopping out of the van as the children ran out to hug both hippos.

"Hi Darren, Hey Roscoe! Are the others already here?" She asked. Darren, the smaller hippo, gave Danny an affectionate, gentle noogie and shook his head.

"Not everyone. The girls are inside with Momma, but we're still waiting on Beshte."

"So little sis, where's this amazing guy you've been telling us about?" Smirked Roscoe. His voice was a deep boom; something that would have been intimidating to smaller mammals in any situation. Bogo stepped out of the van, standing by Felicity's side.

"That'd be me." Roscoe and Darren both stared at the bull, Darren's eyes widening for a moment.

"Dang sis, you sure can pick 'em.  Not bad." He broke into another grin. "Though how you're still walkin' is beyond me. I mean-" Roscoe quickly cut his younger brother off with a whap upside the head.

"Ey! The kids are listening man!"

"Sorry Ross. Kids, beat it, grown ups gotta talk." Despite the harsh sounding demand, the Brush children simply shrugged and headed into the house. Apparently this sort of talk was normal around here.

"So back to business." Said Roscoe, once the door was shut and the kids out of sight. "You're our little sister's main man huh?"

"Ross, you're not going to do the whole over protective dad/brother thing are you?" sighed Felicity. "Remember when you did that to Arnie Hoovesworth at my senior prom?"

"It's our job little sister." Roscoe snorted. "Besides, Arnie was a dork." Felicity growled and planted her paws on her hips.

"He was a sweet guy."

"He dumped you the day after the dance."

"Because you guys threatened to trample him when he kissed me goodnight!"

"Hey, if he wasn't tough enough to deal with the Pod, he wasn't good enough for you."

"Oh you are so full of-"

TWEEEEET!!! A sharp whistle came from the door of the house. A large hippo cow was standing there, looking sternly at the two.

"Roscoe, stop picking on Feli and her beau." she grunted and walked over to Bogo. "Glad you could make it Chief. Don't pay my brother any mind, he just likes to pick on the baby of the family." as she extended her wide hoof to shake, Bogo grinned and clasped her hoof warmly before the two broke into a complicated hoofshake, the kind only the best of friends would really have.

"Officer Kiboko! I had no idea you were Felicity's sister!"

"Wait, Gloria, you know this guy?!" Darren piped up, looking between his sisters. Gloria nodded shortly.

"Bogo and I go waaaaay back. He was my partner on the beat before I switched to The Zoo."  she explained. "I don't blame you for not remembering, Bogo. I only really mentioned her in passing. Anyway, I'm glad to see you two hooked up! I always thought you guys would be a good match. Anyway, Momma wanted me to get Y'all inside. She's got some early pickings ready." She waved them inside with a little smile and Bogo and Felicity followed.

The inside of the house was roomy, as was to be expected for a family of hippos. Felicity spotted the children in the living room, munching away on light snacks and watching TV with Grace. She held Bogo's hoof gently, leading him towards the kitchen. The old wooden table was covered with plates and platters of food; Freshly cut veggies and fruits arranged around bowls of dip, steaming golden brown rolls with various sweet or savory spreads, crackers of almost every description and many many more. It was easy to see where Felicity learned her trade if the matriarch of the Pod called this sort of spread a snack. An old hippo cow was at one of the counters, mixing a massive bowl of fruit salad. She looked up at the sound of their entrance, her ears flicking happily and her deep set eyes almost hidden in her wrinkles as she smiled.

"There's my baby girl! I was wondering when you'd arrive, I only had time to put out this little bit of nibbles for you and-" she paused, looking at Bogo. "Oh my, what a handsome young bull! Welcome, welcome. Make yourself at home dear. Have a snack, don't be shy. You look positively underfed!" Bogo found a plate thrust into his hooves and a gentle hoof at his back, nudging him towards the food. He saw Gloria snickering out of the corner of his eye.

"Momma doesn't stand much on ceremony." Felicity muttered to him, hopping up onto a high stool at the table with her name painted on it. It was the only one like it around the massive table. "Soon as you come through that door, you're Pod." she dished herself up a little salad. As Bogo plucked one of the soft white rolls from the platter, Mrs. Kiboko bustled around the kitchen, talking all the while.

"Roscoe, hand me the big strainer from the top shelf- that's right, thank you. So, Martin, Felicity tells me you're the Police chief of Precint 1? That must be a thrilling job. Especially after that whole Nighthowler fiasco. Gloria, the paring knife please. Thank you. Not that I blame you dear, even I didn't suspect Bellwether at first."

"She's got most of the prey prisoners in the Zoo convinced too." Snorted Gloria. "But the Preds outnumber her in there, and they're spreading the truth." her mother nodded, pouring some chopped onions into a pan.

"I much prefer that Canidae girl we've got now. A good strong leader is just what this city needs now."

"Momma, you only like her because she helps keep the bakery going with her big orders." Felicity smirked through a bite of what looked to be some sort of berry turnover. Mrs. Kiboko smiled.

"That just shows she has good taste as well as smarts. And she's so good with the children! She just adores my grandbabies you know, and for good reason. So Martin, how do you get on with them?"

Bogo looked out the kitchen door to the hall, where giggles could be heard from the Living Room. Were Danny and Ellie play wrestling again?

"I think they're a great bunch of kids. Though I'm sure that's from a good mother." he winked at Felicity with a grin. Felicity grinned back and looked at her own mother.

"I learned from the best."

Bogo was struck with a small thought; Felicity had told him she had been adopted, but beyond that, he didn't know much about the whole thing.

"I can hear the gears turning in your head dear boy." Mrs Kiboko said suddenly. "And I'm guessing the question in your mind is 'how on earth did a hippo adopt a fox?' Am I right?" Bogo flushed sheepishly, but Mrs. Kiboko merely chuckled.

"It's alright Martin dear, It's a normal question, and answer is simple. See, I knew Felicity's biological mother and father for years. We were neighbors and Mrs. Brush was my best friend. Of course, this was back in the days when Preds were even more feared. So much so that a company decided to do a trial run of what they called 'Predator Control Devices.' A few dozen families were fitted with shock collars that would zap a predator every time their heartbeat sped up." The hippo's expression darkened and she stopped cooking.

"That meant no matter what emotion it was; anger fear, joy, stress of any kind, they'd get zapped for it. Mostly it was small zaps, but they kept getting stronger the higher the emotion.  Mrs. Brush had just found out she was pregnant three days after being fitted. 'Tamed' they called it...she managed to make it up to the labor without getting zapped....then...when the contractions started...." she paused, her head lowering. Her hooves tightened into fists and here small eyes watered. Roscoe instantly placed an arm around her, muttering soothingly.

"Momma, you don't have to keep going. He doesn't have to know."

"Yes he does Roscoe. If he wants to be with her, he ought to know the whole story, good and bad...get the onions off the stove would you dear? I don't want them to burn." The bull hesitated for a moment before heading over and moving the pan off the burner.

"Do you know how fast a vixen's heart rate speeds up when she's in labor Chief Bogo?" Martha asked. "Very, very quickly. The Collar was already going off by the time we managed to get Mrs. Brush to the Hospital. The doctors only just got the collar off in time before it rendered her unconscious. Thank the gods that thing didn't hurt Felicity." The hippo looked to Felicity with tears in her eyes and a tiny grateful smile. Felicity just sat and stared at her paws. She had heard this story before, but it didn't make it any easier. Martha took a breath and continued.

"Two years later, Felicity's father reported a problem with his collar. It was delivering high voltage shocks at random. Of course, the company didn't listen. Just assuming he was just trying to get the damn thing off, pardon my mouth. He was just sitting, reading the paper when the collar...it just...went off. I was helping Mrs. Brush with Felicity when we heard the screaming. We...We tried to help. I did my best to get that fool thing off his neck and save him..." Fat tears rolled from her eyes to splatter onto the table and Felicity spoke.

"The shocks stopped his heart." she said distantly. "The ambulance never even showed up. Mrs. Brush broke down and her collar zapped her too. Watching your mate die...I suppose that would drive any mammal's heart rate into lethal shocking range. Momma adopted me the same day." Bogo felt his heart twist at the look on her face. It was as blank and expressionless as when his father had insulted her.

"Aw Fel...I'm so sorry." He crooned, nudging his seat closer to pull her in for a one armed hug. Felicity quickly moved, crawling into the bull's lap and burying her face in his broad chest. It was her way of asking for comfort from him and he obliged without hesitation, wrapping his arms around her tightly as though to shield her from the pain of the past. For a few moments he forgot they had an audience, at least until Roscoe sniffed softly.

"We never looked back kiddo. Not once." He huffed. "The Old Bull may have been against the adoption, but we always stood by you." Bogo felt Felicity flinch in his arms.

"What old bull?"

"My late Ex-Husband." Mrs. Kiboko explained. "He was very anti-predator, didn't even like living next to the Brushes. When I brought Felicity home after that awful night, he demanded I take her to an orphanage. Said he wasn't going to have a fox under his roof."

"Obviously, we declined." Gloria grunted. "Dad packed his suitcase and filed for divorce the next day. He used to come see us for birthdays and junk, but he kinda got the hint he wasn't wanted after Roscoe and I socked him in the jaw for calling Feli something I won't repeat."

"And none of you saw him again until he was on his deathbed..." Felicity mumbled. Darren pointed a hoof at her.

"Hey, don't you go blaming yourself for that. We never wanted to see him. And he got what he deserved. Karma smacked him with the Big C."

"Your father passed of Cancer?" asked Bogo.

"Five years ago." replied Gloria. "None of us shed many tears over him. Wasn't a great dad at the best of times."

Martha stood up again, wiping her dewy eyes and turned to the stove, flicking the burner back on and stirring the onions she had been frying.

"All of that's in the past anyway." she said gently. "I have my kids, all happy and healthy, as well as my grandbabies."

"Talking about us again Gran?" Danny was at the door of the kitchen, an empty plate in his hooves. Martha beamed at him.

"Of course we were Danny. Just saying how thankful we were for you and your brothers and sisters. Did you kids finish your snacks? Come here sweetie. Mind the stove now." She gave the young rhino a one armed hug as he squeezed past his aunt and uncles to his grandmother's side. Within moments the plate was filled with cliced carrots, celery and other assorted munchies (including some tuna topped crackers for Elise) and he slipped back out with a smile. Martha turned back to the table with a frying pan full of fried apples and onions, an old family favorite according to Roscoe.

"So, Martin dear." she asked, scooping a generous portion onto his plate.  "When are you planning on proposing to my daughter?" Bogo nearly choked on the carrot stick he'd been munching and sputtered as the others all laughed.

~*~

The rest of the day passed in a haze of good food, good company and unending teasing from Roscoe and Darren, which somehow ended up with Roscoe and Bogo having a wrestling match in the backyard while Mrs. Kiboko took bets on the winner and the kids cheered Bogo on. All in All, Bogo was quite glad he had agreed to the meeting, especially after Mrs. Kiboko had pressed a tin foil covered plate of goodies on him on their way out and given him a warm hug.

"You come on back anytime dear." she had said quietly. "You're a good bull for my Felicity. She smiles with you in a way I've never seen, and that's all I ever wanted for her. Take good care of her, won't you?"  
Bogo had quickly given the old hippo a tight squeeze in return.

"Yes Ma'am."


End file.
